San Diego Padres: What a Kirby Yates extension might look like

What will it cost

Yates is projected to make just $6.5 million in arbitration for the upcoming 2020 season, so you can bet his AAV will be higher than that going forward.

This should be pretty easy to figure out as we have some really good, recent comparisons.

The Atlanta Braves signed Will Smith this offseason to a three-year, $39 million deal with a $13 million team option and $1 million buy out.

Smith is 30-years-old and is coming off back-to-back really good seasons with the San Francisco Giants.

This past season he posted a 2.76 ERA in 65.1 innings with 96 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.02.

While Yates has been much more dominant the past two seasons than Smith, the Padres’ closer is also two years older.

And when you consider that the Padres just gave 31-year-old Drew Pomeranz four years and $34 million, which works out to be $8.5 million a year, you know Yates will get a good bit more than that in an extension.

Craig Kimbrel will be making $16 million a year the next two seasons, but I’m not sure Yates goes that high.

Last offseason Zack Britton signed a three-year deal for $13 million a year with a team option for a fourth year.

With that deal and the Will Smith one, I think we have a pretty good idea of what an extension might look like for Yates.

I think the Padres could sign him to three more years after the 2020 season for $14 million a year.